The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Monday, March 4, 2013

Don’t Give Weaponry to the Syrian Rebels

by Michael RubinEarlier this week, Senator Marco Rubio gave a
speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in which he
called for the United States to provide ammunition to the Syrian opposition. His colleague, Senator John McCain, has long advocated a more forceful line on Syria, including arms
for the Syrian opposition. There certainly is a great deal of
frustration in national security circles about the situation in Syria,
all the more so after revelations that President Obama turned down
the unanimous advice of his top military advisers and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton when they counseled greater assistance to the
Syrian rebels months ago.

Time marches on, however, and the doors of opportunity that existed
earlier in the Syrian uprising are now shut. A good argument six months
ago does not necessarily make a good argument today, when the winds of
war have so decidedly changed the face of Syria.

Much has already been written about the
Nusra Front, a group supported by both Turkey and Saudi Arabia and
which the United States considers an Al Qaeda affiliate and has designated a terrorist group.
The invaluable SITE Monitoring has translated a Twitter feed from a
jihadist who chronicled his travels from Saudi Arabia through Turkey and
onward into Syria. SITE Monitoring doesn’t allow those translations to
be distributed by their subscribers, but suffice to say, the Nusra Front
now appears to be recruiting the most militant Islamists out there;
being Syrian or fighting for Syrian freedom has nothing to do with their
struggle. The opposition has radicalized, and the most responsible,
moderate, and nationalist elements have been purged. Should Bashar
al-Assad fall tomorrow, Syria will not be a democracy: At best there
would be an ongoing civil war, and at worst the al-Qaeda-affiliated
terrorists who have taken root inside Syria will consolidate their
control.

So what is the United States to do? The question which Rubio
addresses belongs to a debate overtaken by events. That does not mean
that Washington can afford to be isolationist or simply lead from
behind. The United States should prepare to use its airpower to
neutralize any group which threatens U.S. national security. It must
have contingencies to seize and destroy chemical munitions—no easy feat,
as it took weeks to accomplish that task in Libya in 2003, and that was
with Libyan government cooperation. Make no mistake: the fact that the
Syrian opposition is not our ally does not make Bashar al-Assad and his
regime any less odious. Sometimes, as at the height of the Somalia
conflict, we need to recognize that there is no natural ally. At
present, President Obama’s reticence is correct, but only because his
incompetence on the Syria issue has created a self-fulfilling prophecy,
one which U.S. administrations will be dealing with for decades to come.Michael RubinSource: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/03/02/dont-give-weaponry-to-the-syrian-rebels/Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.